Landis admits he doped, and implicates others

Floyd Landis has admitted that he used banned performance-enhancing substances and blood doping techniques in a series of emails sent to US anti-doping authorities, and national and international cycling officials, according to a report published by the Wall Street Journal.

The emails, sent in April and May this year, outline how and when Landis doped, and he names riders and team officials who assisted him including seven-times Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong and his former boss at the US Postal team, Johan Bruyneel.

Since the news of the emails broke, Landis has spoken with ESPN’s Bonnie Ford and gave the reason for his admission: “I want to clear my conscience, I don’t want to be part of the problem any more.”

Landis admits to the use of blood-booster erythropoetin (EPO), testosterone and blood transfusions. He also alleges that Armstrong showed him how doping can improve performance and that Bruyneel introduced him to the use of testosterone patches, growth hormone and blood doping in 2002 whilst he was riding with Armstrong at US Postal.

Landis also alleges that he was shown how to evade the detection of his use of banned substances by Bruyneel. He also says that he carried on doping when he joined the Swiss Phonak
squad after leaving US Postal, and that team owner Andy Rihs knew.

The American also names fellow US cyclists and former US Postal team-mates George Hincapie, Levi Leipheimer and David Zabriskie.

Although Landis has kept detailed journals of his own doping, he admits that he has little or no evidence of the other riders’ illegal doping, a fact which will significantly weaken his revelations.

Landis was stripped of his 2006 Tour de France win after failing a test for synthetic testosterone during the race. Since then, he has served a two-year suspension from competition and undertaken a lengthy, protracted and expensive legal battle to clear his name.

Is anybody surprised? Really? With the biological passport we can be fairly sure whats going on but before that..forget it! Landis obviously cheated but I don’t think the ideas were only his own. It seems more than unusual that Herras, Landis and Hamilton all tested positive after spells with postal. It’s also hard to see how a specifically drug free Lance managed to beat a hugely talented and drug fueled peleton 7 times. This year and last year have finally seen some great and believable racing…Cadel Evans starts to win..no coincidence..hes riding talent Vs Talent not whos got the best doping regime…why didn’t Evans and Vinikurov catch the break…they were shattered and have (no offence) largely crap teams. Riders look knackered, no ones dominatying everything..after40 years of cycling it’s turning into the sport it should always have been..just need to introduce an automatic life ban now for anyone who cheats and we might have cracked it!

REGINALD GRIFFIN

I really feel sorry for Landis. Had he came clean from the start and accepted his punishment like a ma,. He would be back in the fold once again, but he chose to fight a lie, and in the process took himself further down. Now broke, busted, disgusted, and can’t be trusted. He needs a payday. So he stoop further down the pit of shame and implicates others. He needs to get on his bike and ride of into the sunset.

REGINALD GRIFFIN

I really feel sorry for Landis. Had he came clean from the start and accepted his punishment like a ma,. He would be back in the fold once again, but he chose to fight a lie, and in the process took himself further down. Now broke, busted, disgusted, and can’t be trusted. He needs a payday. So he stoop further down the pit of shame and implicates others. He needs to get on his bike and ride of into the sunset.

Tom

As much as nathan is clearly out of his face my feeling is that the idea that somehow the principle of drug abuse in modern sport is somehow that much worse than the all-consuming money merry-go-round in modern sport (US football, European soccer, Motorsport, yes Cycling etc. etc.) is laughable, and not in a funny way.

These people are at the sharp end of a very cynical sportsworld (world full stop) and they swim in very murky waters. There is no purity at this level. The pure form is for the ordinary man and woman in the street. Armstrong ‘cheated’, but he knows he didn’t cheat the system because the system itself is the cheat.

nathan

Every commentator who has expressed an opinion IN THIS FORUM is drugged up to the eyeballs. We cannot know what drug you are on baby, and most of society don’t care mates, as everyone on the planet is drugged, weather it be by ideology or substance. We are all drugged. Why Landis feels it is pertinent to express what everyone is aware of is monetary, and will pay a few bills. No one on this planet can bring cycling into dis-repute. One can only bring oneself into dis-repute by holding in mind the thought that ones behavior suggests holding thoughts of fear, surrounding opinions expressed by others on ones behaviors or drug experiences, in his or her mind. The truth is it is never about what we do in the world or even what others opinions about what we do while walking, err cycling through this brief experience of the physical, it’s about what we hold in mind while walking, cycling or judging high on our chosen drug that is the key. Peace of mind is clearly an internal matter. PEACE

John Lawrence

Man I am proud of Landis. It takes guts and courage to do that (the right thing). Ya he should have done it before but he did it and thats what really counts.

I am now a fan and proud supporter of * Floyd Landis * !!

Way to go man, and God bless you sir.

Ian Beveridge

This explains what happened in 2006. He ws pumping himself full of chemicals – none of which he could get checked in a lab anywhere. Somewhere along the line Synthetic Testosterone got in the mix. He went to great lengths to show the labs were wrong – but never gave anyone a sample of what he was injecting.

Cavologuardi

Either Flandis is telling the truth now and lied then or he told the truth then and is lying now. Either way, that makes him a liar, and how can one tell when a liar is telling the truth? Confused? Don’t be. Vaughters, Andreu and Hamilton know where the bodies are buried. They are all more articulate than the country bumpkin; it’s time for them to front up and bring the Evil Empire down once and for all.

Stage racing has been a dirty sport from the moment of its inception – it’s obviously too tough. This is yet another chance for the sport to put its house in order: I say, put McQuaid out to pasture, disband the UCI, and let’s start again from the bottom up!

The only performance enhancing drug I’ve had today was a bar of fruit and nut… anyone fancy a race around Rivington?

rick lodewell

Yeah, I thought maybe Zabriskie was clean, but he did live with Landis and he rode with US Postal.

I think the unfortunate truth is none of them were clean.

I like McQuaid’s attack on Landis. C’mon you jerk don’t defend the system try to clean things up!!!

Edith Piaf

there are just too many possible interpretations of this to warrant any certainty at all.

e.g. maybe landis is actually innocent but feels he’s been wronged or abandoned by these people; and having realized that his reputation will never be repaired anyway, just wants the others to know what its like to take some responsibility or what they did.

i can perfectly believe that those accused are guilty, but strangely, i’m less sure about landis himself.

i think we’ll never know – but frankly i’m happy to see armstrong brought down by this.

arronski

Keep an eye open for his new book (The cycling Diaries)

arronski

So the red neck Quaker has sold his diaries, loads of the old guard in the peleton have taken drugs in the past (allegedly), big deal, he wants max publicity while lance and co are in the tour of california and max cash for his bullshit story….what a sucker!!

George

Unbelievable, I can’t believe he kept it for so long and has revealed Armstrong and Bruyneel also behind this. It just makes me sick hearing that cyclists dope, because if they aren’t caught via tests, then their guilty consciences reveal it, and bring down the others respnsible for it.

Mike

Well, what a surprise. That he has admited it, not his so called revelations about team mates.
Almost every rider who has left US Postal or Discovery has subsequently tested for, or admitter to using, banner substances/blood doping.
What happens now? Riis never tested positive for any banned substances but retrospectively lost his 2006 Tour win because a team member outed him.
I cant wait.

George

Not suprised at the other aligations .yes they are aligations amazing how many riders who rode for postal have been done for doping or admitted it . I now have no faith in any other ex us postal riders. I no longer beleive in miracles. How can someone be so much better than all the other doped riders. I

There are still riders that still hardly race and then turn up to the tour and are amazing. You cannot simulate racing in training to that extent.

It makes rider like wiggins look even more impressive . No more cheers for ex postal riders.

David Thomas

I still find it difficult to believe that Llandis doped during that crucial stage of the 2006 Tour. I do not have any problem believing that he doped during the rest of his pro-career, I think that the majority of pros did in the past just to level the playing field, a non-doping pro would not be able to compete (however much natural talent they had) I include Armstrong et al in this. I am not however condoning doping in any shape or form

The reason for my view on the Tour doping is as follows-

-I undersand that the product found in his body would not have the immediate effect required to help him win the stage.

-He knew he would be tested if he won the stage, so why dope with something which a) would not help him & b) also be so easily detected

-If you believe the power figures quoted by some sources for that stage the wattage he was allegedly producing was not off the scale

-the peleton did not take up the chase & let him “run away”

It seems totally illogical that he would be dumb enough (however much he wanted to win) to do this or ill informed enough to know that he had a squat chance of getting away with this & being disgraced as he was.

If my reasons are faulty I would welcom informed enlightenment not ascerbic rhetoric as I see sometimes in the cycling press from cyclists and journalists (not, of course Cycling Weekly or for that matter any IPC cycling magazines)

Regards Dav Thomas, Bristol.

JimDavis

From what I can piece together, what Floyd is saying is …There is no way I could have been guilty of synthetic testosterone use in 2006 becuase I was on something else entirely and these are the people who showed me how to do it?

What ever you think of Landis, at the end of the day someone had to have shown him how.

Pity Floyd doesn’t have hard evidence on the alleged cover up. Pat McQuaid’s denials today sound very uneasy â€“ avoiding the question and only answering by attacking Landisâ€™s character can only give rise to more conspiracy theories.

Matt

dave, I think you are confusing Floyd Landis and Tyler Hamilton!

Lee

is he on drugs now?

freddy_bee

it’s not really a truth coming out now is it?,
more of a confirmation of what we all knew!.

martin

can someone please tell me if there’s anyone in this sport who i can believe in?

FLAMMEROUGE

So, the redneck renegade finally admits the dirty truth… can’t believe he thought he could get away with his bulsh*t for so long! Should give the lance-haters something else to add fuel to the funeral pire of cycling’s already tarnished reputation.

Funny how Landis protested his innocence time after time, came up with all sort of insane reasons as to why he failed, never admitted to doping and virtually bankrupted himself now admits to it, implicates others without proof to clear his consciense. Surely the time to do that was when he was found to have tested for drugs.
Perhaps his claims, although at present unsubstantiated will be found to be true, but I can not help wondering if a man who has been convicted twice and admits to taking anti depressants can be considered as mentally stable.

Jim Wolverton

So he now decides to clear his conscience? He’s already destroyed his family, lost his fortune, and taken innocent riders with him. It’s good that the truth is out, but at what cost?